Labyrinthodont

Labyrinthodont, a type of tooth made up of infolded enamel that provides a grooved and strongly reinforced structure. This tooth type was common in the true amphibians of the Paleozoic Era, some lobe-finned fishes closely related to tetrapods, and in the early anthracosaurs—which were tetrapods closely related to the amniotes.

Labyrinthodont is also an archaic name for any member of the subclass Labyrinthodontia, an extinct group that served as a precursor to the amphibians. Labyrinthodonts lived during Carboniferous and Permian times (about 359–251 million years ago) and may well have included the ancestors of all terrestrial vertebrates.

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